McLaren’s Lando Norris dominated the qualifying session at the Red Bull Ring by being quickest in all three segments of the session with the end result scoring a pole position.
Norris had earlier sat out of FP1 for Formula 2 driver Alex Dunne. After that, Lando led all the way in every session and was untouchable in Q3 that was tempered by a late yellow flag.
Lando’s super pace saw him take P1 with the biggest gap of the season to date, his lap time of one minute, 03.971 seconds was more than enough to keep Charles Leclerc behind him – although the Ferrari driver will be delighted to have split the Papayas.
Championship leader Oscar Piastri will start third after a spin for the Alpine of Pierre Gasly ruined the final lap of the McLaren driver, as well as the Red Bull of Max Verstappen – who will start seventh having taken pole in the past four Austrian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton will start in fourth position for Ferrari with Canadian Grand Prix race winner George Russell fifth and Liam Lawson impressing by taking sixth for Racing Bulls.
With Verstappen down in seventh he will start alongside the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto, who followed up his Formula 2 win in Styria last year by putting in his best Formula 1 qualifying performance of his rookie season.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli was ninth for Mercedes with Gasly’s untimely spin leaving him only P10.
A red flag in Q2 due to a fire at the side of the final corner, where Hamilton had run wide, meant that all 15 drivers were pushing for fast laps when the session resumed with a little over five minutes remaining.
Bortoleto put in a quick effort as Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon, Isack Hadjar, Franco Colapinto and Oliver Bearman were those unable to produce a time to get through to Q3 and will start P11-P15, respectively, with Antonelli edging through.
Pressure continues to grow on Yuki Tsunoda as he was eliminated in Q1 at the team’s home race.
The Red Bull driver will start in P18, with the back row taken by Carlos Sainz, the Williams driver knocked out in the first stage of qualifying for the third race in a row, and the experienced Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg.
Tsunoda could consider himself slightly unlucky, he was only 0.250 seconds off the Q1 pace of teammate Verstappen – but that proved the difference between P6 and P18, while Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon were also unable to get into Q2.
So a dominant qualifying performance by Lando Norris. Quickest in Q1, Q2 and Q3. Taking pole was well deserved and he looks the favourite to score the Austrian Grand Prix victory on race day.
Austrian Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:03.971
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:04.492
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:04.554
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:04.582
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:04.763
6 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:04.926
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:04.929
8 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:05.132
9 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:05.276
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:05.649
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:05.128
12 Alexander Albon Williams 1:05.205
13 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:05.226
14 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:05.288
15 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:05.312
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:05.329
17 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:05.364
18 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:05.369
19 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:05.582
20 Nico Huldenberg Sauber 1:05.606
Lando Norris has sealed a commanding pole position in Qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix, the McLaren driver recording a time that was half a second clear of nearest challenger Charles Leclerc to mark the biggest pole margin of the season so far.
After setting the pace in Q1 and Q2, Norris continued that theme by claiming provisional pole during the initial runs of Q3 – but the McLaren man went even better on his next effort, pumping in a 1m 03.971s.
Leclerc had a solid session in P2 for Ferrari, despite being 0.521s adrift of Norris, while Oscar Piastri was amongst those affected by a brief yellow flag in the final moments of the session following a spin for Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, meaning that the McLaren racer missed out on setting a closing effort and had to settle for P3.
Lewis Hamilton slotted into fourth for the Scuderia, while Canadian Grand Prix winner George Russell was fifth in the Mercedes. Liam Lawson was an impressive sixth at the wheel of the Racing Bulls machine, meaning that he will start ahead of Max Verstappen in seventh, the Red Bull driver having also been hindered by that late yellow flag.
Gabriel Bortoleto shone during Qualifying, the Kick Sauber rookie securing P8 on the grid, with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and the aforementioned Gasly completing the top 10 at the Red Bull Ring.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/norris-storms-to-impressive-pole-position-in-austria-ahead-of-leclerc-and.5TsmWycDe98YZYs8ysjVIS
Lando Norris expressed his satisfaction after an emphatic return to pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix, with the McLaren driver bouncing back from a dramatic weekend in Canada and some “tough moments” in Qualifying sessions through 2025.
Norris is firmly in the mix for the world title this season, splitting team mate Oscar Piastri and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship after 10 rounds, but he has come under the spotlight for making mistakes at crunch moments.
That includes several compromised Q3 performances, the most notable being a heavy crash in Saudi Arabia, while he ran into the back of Piastri’s car on race day last time out in Montreal, which eliminated the Briton from the race and cost him valuable points.
However, Norris appears to have put that latest disappointment firmly behind him during the break between races – dominating practice at the Red Bull Ring and then charging his way to a comfortable pole despite missing FP1.
Asked after Qualifying where that performance came from, having last been on pole in Monaco three races ago, Norris smiled: “It was a good lap, that’s for sure. I guess just little bit by little bit.
“I feel even like my Q3 run one was good, but I knew there were a few places where if I just got it right I could get still quite a bit more time – and I did exactly that. I did what I planned to do, and when I plan to do something and it goes right, it normally goes very, very well.
“I’m very happy, [it’s been] a good day, and it’s been a good weekend for me so far, so hopefully we can keep it up.”
Put to him that he was not showing a huge amount of emotion over the result, and instead appears to have adopted a “steely focus” this weekend, Norris replied: “I don’t know. I’m still very happy. It’s just that it’s a long season.
“I still savour this moment, especially because some of my tougher moments have been in Quali. To put in a lap like today, to have the performance throughout this weekend like I’ve had, is pleasing for myself.
“I’m excited. It’s a long race tomorrow. It’s more that it’s just a long season. I’m very happy with today, but I want to prove it to myself over and over again, and hopefully this is just the beginning of it.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/hopefully-this-is-just-the-beginning-norris-pleased-to-move-on-from-tougher.3sSND1C6e68vM6ACRuYA7F
Oscar Piastri was left frustrated after being unable to start his final flying qualifying lap as the Formula 1 championship leader had to settle for third place for Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix.
McLaren had dominated for much of the weekend, with Lando Norris having the edge over Piastri and continuing that trend by storming to pole position. He will start alongside the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, who pipped Piastri to the front row.
That was due to a late yellow flag following a spin for the Alpine of Pierre Gasly, which put paid to any chance Piastri had of improving his time with a final run in Q3.
“It was the fact I didn’t get to start it. That was the problem,” Piastri said of losing the chance to put in another run.
“I had Gasly spin at the last corner, so I didn’t even open my second lap. Lando’s been very quick all weekend, so it would have been a tough challenge.
“But I think we easily had enough pace in the car this weekend to be on the front row. So it is always a shame when you don’t even get the chance. But we can still have a good race from there. And sometimes it’s just not your day.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/just-not-my-day-f1-title-leader-piastri-sees-austrian-gp-qualifying-lap-ruined/10737219/
Lewis Hamilton hailed the work rate and togetherness of Ferrari as he achieved his best qualifying result with the Formula 1 squad – although he refused to target a podium as he prepares to start fourth at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Ferrari brought a new floor to Spielberg and, despite teething snags during practice, it aided performance in qualifying, with Hamilton on the second row and team-mate Charles Leclerc starting alongside polesitter Lando Norris.
Hamilton, whose best performance since switching to Ferrari from Mercedes came with victory in the sprint race at Shanghai, has achieved his best grand prix qualifying display as the Scuderia look to get back on track following a number of disappointing outings.
He felt an issue on his last run robbed him of beating Leclerc to second, but was still much happier to be closer to his team-mate.
“It’s a fantastic result,” said Hamilton. “I think the team worked really hard back in the factory to bring us a new floor this weekend. Considering yesterday, we were a lot further off. I think it was six to nine tenths off.
“For us to be much closer and to be on the second row, I think that’s really fantastic, and for Charles, obviously, he’s on the front row. I think, ultimately, my last lap wasn’t perfect. I think I could have been, I think if I’d finished it would have been second.
“I’ve been in this business for such a long time. You win some, you lose some. I’m grateful that we’re on the second row at least. And usually our race is better, our car is better in the race generally than it is usually qualifying. So we’ve improved in qualifying as much as we can. Let’s hope that we can carry that on into the race.
“The direction we went, I think, has been really positive. And I think edging closer in terms of performance to Charles, who’s really, really used to the car, he hardly ever changes it. So I think that’s really positive.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/hamilton-pleased-with-fantastic-ferrari-qualifying-at-f1-austrian-gp/10737297/
Max Verstappen’s Formula 1 qualifying session for the Austrian Grand Prix was hampered significantly when Pierre Gasly spun ahead of him on his last lap – but believes Red Bull’s performance had already waned amid the changing conditions.
After FP3, Verstappen was only 0.2s behind Lando Norris’ top-line pace and looked to be an outside bet for pole, but the gulf to the McLaren had grown to over 0.4s during Q1 and Q2 – which he put down to the hotter temperatures and changing wind direction later in the day.
Following the opening runs in Q3, Verstappen was only sixth, but had been among the early takers for a final lap in an effort to improve his position on Sunday’s grid.
But his last attempt was nixed by Gasly’s Turn 10 spin, which brought out the yellow flags. Verstappen did not encounter Gasly immediately, but the yellows had lingered long enough to force him into backing off ahead of the final corner.
He was not left with enough time to get a final lap in, and thus dropped a further position when Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson trickled past for sixth by 0.003s.
Verstappen said that he was reasonably happy with his car in FP3 and that the team had barely touched his set-up between sessions, and added that the 47C track temperatures had started to sap performance away from his RB21.
“The conditions for sure are not that good for our car,” rued Verstappen. “In terms of gap, I think it was very big. Certainly in qualifying everything just felt a lot worse.
“Not a lot [of expectations in the race]. The hot conditions, they don’t help as well and so far this year we’ve never really been more competitive in the race than qualifying as well, so we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/verstappen-everything-fell-apart-in-f1-austrian-gp-qualifyings-hot-conditions/10737268/